It wasn’t okay.

The momma bear heard her cub crying and she wasn’t happy.

A six foot tall brown bear burst out of the trees and roared. I started backing up away from the cub. It hadn’t occurred to me that there might be a mother around. I forgot that this was supposed to be as real as possible.

I pulled out my sword and began waving it in front of me. The bear dropped down on all fours and ran at me. I slung the sack over my shoulder like a backpack and ran.

The good news was that there wasn’t as much brush on the creek bank. The bad news was that the bear was still faster than me. It hit me from behind and knocked me over.

I rolled into the creek. The bear swatted at me with its paws. Its claws tore into my skin, leaving shallow gashes on my left shoulder and stomach.

I slashed at it with the sword. Somehow I managed to pop it on the nose with the flat of the blade. The bear snarled and backed up.

I scooted backwards through the creek, keeping the sword pointed at the bear. I kept looking for a health bar, but there wasn’t one. I hoped it was an internal thing, because this bear was trying to eat me.

The bear started to move towards me again, and I swung the sword furiously. It stopped moving and stood up. The roar it let out shook my whole body and may have taken control of my bladder from me.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

I tightened the grip on my sword and screamed back. It was all I could think to do. I screamed as loud and as long as I could force my lungs.

The bear dropped down and growled at me. I took another lungful of air and screamed again. This time the bear turned and ran back to the bushes where its cub was hiding.

I dropped my sword and looked at my cuts. The bear had gotten me good twice, once on the left shoulder and across the stomach. I splashed them with water to get the dirt out. One thing I had never been squeamish about was blood. It may have helped that Billy was always getting himself scraped up.

The cuts weren’t very deep, but they did sting. Without any bandages, I couldn’t do anything more than wash out the wounds. I needed to get to that village as soon as I could.

I stood up and checked my pack. During the fight, I had sat on the berries, now there was nothing but mush in the bottom of my sack. I flipped the sack inside out and washed it out. My next meal was gone, but I wasn’t going back to the blackberry bushes. I had eaten enough to last me for a little while.

I started walking up the creek bank, keeping an eye out for any other animals. It was a peaceful walk. The sunset got me to stop my trek. Back home, I hadn’t been able to sit and enjoy the beauty of the sun disappearing behind the trees. The colors were vibrant. The reds, yellows, and oranges mixed over the perfect canvas. It was breathtaking.

I sat on a rock and watched the sun go down. I knew I needed to move forward, but this was the first time I had actually just sat and enjoyed something since my parents had died. I hoped that somewhere, Billy was looking up at the same sky. At the same two moons.

Once it was dark, I got up. A perk of two moons meant that there was plenty of light to see by. My legs were burning and my shoulders ached, but I kept moving. I had taken a break. Now it was time to find my brother.